OAN Staff Blake Wolf
2:13 PM – Monday, August 19, 2024
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supports a new U.S. led ceasefire proposal.
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Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on Sunday. On Monday, he led a three hour meeting in Jerusalem.
“The Prime Minister reiterated Israel’s commitment to the current American proposal on the release of our hostages, which takes into account Israel’s security needs, which he strongly insists on,” said Netanyahu’s office.
Although Blinken remains optimistic, he stated that there are still “complex issues” which require “hard decisions by the leaders.”
Following the meeting with Netanyahu, Blinken held a press conference at the U.S. Embassy located in Jerusalem.
“There is a real sense of urgency here, across the region on the need to get this over the finish line and to do it as soon as possible. The United States is deeply committed to getting this job done,” said Blinken.
Despite Blinken’s assertions, Turkey claims that Hamas representatives have stated that U.S. officials were “painting an overly optimistic picture,” regarding the state of negotiations.
Multiple disagreements, including Netanyahu’s demand for IDF presence along the Egypt-Gaza border, have been a “non starter” for Hamas.
The Times Of Israel also reported that: “Israel’s negotiators have told Netanyahu that this is not acceptable to Hamas and that there will be no deal if he insists upon it.”
Additionally, on Sunday, Hamas accused the Israeli prime minister of “thwarting the mediators’ efforts.”
“[The proposal] is the single best way not only to get the hostages home [and] to ease the suffering of people in Gaza, it is also the best way to make sure that conflict doesn’t spread, that we don’t see escalation, that we can actually defuse some of the pressure points that we see throughout the region, and then open prospects for trying to build a more enduring peace and security for everyone throughout the Middle East.”
On Monday, prior to the joint meeting with Blinken, Israeli President Isaac Herzog casted the blame on Hamas for the negotiation failures.
“People have to understand it starts with a refusal of Hamas to move forward,” he stated. “We are simply still very hopeful that we can move forward in the negotiations that are held by the mediators.”
“It’s time for it to get done. It’s also time to make sure that no one takes any steps that could derail this process. So we’re looking to make sure that there is no escalation, that there are no provocations, that there are no actions that in any way could move us away from getting this deal over the line, or for that matter, escalating the conflict to other places and to greater intensity,” Blinken continued.
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